Marauders Drop Back-and-Forth Affair on Friday Night

JUPITER, FL — The Bradenton Marauders were tied or held a lead for most of the ballgame until the Palm Beach Cardinals scored two in the eighth inning to defeat the Marauders 5-4 on Friday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

For the first time in this week’s series, Bradenton plated the game’s first runs beginning in the second inning. Enmanuel Terrero hit an infield bunt single with one out before scoring on a double from Javier Rivas later in the frame to give Bradenton a 1-0 lead.

In his first start since June 14, Michael Kennedy retired the first six batters until a leadoff double from Ryan Campos started the third. Kennedy retired the next two hitters before Brayden Jobert scored him on a two-out, two-strike double to tie the game at one. Kennedy allowed just the lone run on three hits while striking out four in three innings.

Bradenton took the lead once again in the fourth with some two-out offense. Leonel Sequera struck out two of the first three hitters with Axiel Plaz walking in between. After the second strikeout, the Marauders recorded three straight singles with the latter two being RBI singles from Miguel Sosa and Solomon Maguire to give Bradenton a 3-1 lead.

Palm Beach chipped away against Connor Oliver (0-8) with a run in the fourth on an RBI single from Bryce Madron. In the fifth, Chris Martin struck out but reached second base on a throwing error from Plaz to start the frame. Martin scored on a single from Ian Petruz three batters later to tie the game at three.

The scoreline remained the same until Esmerlyn Valdez smacked a go-ahead solo-home run to left field against Nolan Sparks (1-0) to push Bradenton forward 4-3. For Valdez, it was his 16^th blast of the season, and he is just one shy from tying league leader in Ariel Almonte (Daytona).

In the bottom half of the inning, the first three men recorded hits. Petruz singled, JJ Wetherholt doubled, with Jose Cordoba driving in Petrutz to tie the game. Wetherholt scored on a fielders choice from Ryan Campos later in the frame to give Palm Beach their first lead of the night at 5-4.

In the ninth, Henry Gomez (SV,8) issued a one-out walk to Maguire and a two-out single to Yordany De Los Santos to place the tying run at second and go-ahead run at first. Gomez then struck out Shalin Polanco to end the ballgame.

The Marauders and Cardinals continue their series on Saturday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 6:10 p.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network.